The Five Love Languages

Dr. Gary Chapman discovered that each person perceives love in one of 5 ways he called The Five Love Languages. Let's explore each one in order to learn how to love our family better. As you do the exercises, try to figure out which one you are and which one your children are. Usually, people have 1 primary love language and maybe 1 secondary love language.

1. Words of Affirmation​Think of something nice to say to each member of the family. Let each family member take a turn. Here are some ideas.

I love you.

You are so special to me.

You did an awesome job at....

Thank you for....

2. Physical TouchLet's do a fun handshake together. Try this one, if you can't come up with one.

4. Acts of Service​Let's play helping hands. What would happen if one of your hands decided to not help the other hand anymore? Let's put one hand behind the back. Could you...?

Button your shirt

Tie your shoe

Zip your jacket

No way! It would be so hard. Both hands need to work together to make tasks easy to do. God wants us as families to work together, too, to get all the tasks done in keeping up with our home. It's really hard on one person to do it, but if everyone helps each other out, it can get done easily. Let's think of some chores we have to do around the house.

wash dishes

pick up toys

take out the trash

sweep or vacuum

clean the toilet

Try to one of those chores with just one hand. Can you do it? It would be hard. ​Let's work together with many hands to get these jobs done quickly and easily. Now, let's try to do it with 2 people, each one using only one hand! It's a little tricky, but we can get it done working together!

5. Quality TimeThink of something fun you can do together as a family, and go do it. Here are some ideas.

Play a (board) game

Set up a domino run or build a tower

Do a puzzle

Go grocery shopping

Work outside

Make a meal

What is Jesus' new command for us? Read together John 13:34. Jesus showed God's love to people in the different love languages. Make a commitment to love each other in the way each one desires to be loved.